What The Turk Dragged In
by The Writer's Den
Summary: Reno finds Cloud after the battle with Sephiroth is over. The red head drags Cloud back to his apartment and things get tense. Side job by Reno Spiegel and Drakonlily.
1. Chapter One

**What the Turk Dragged in : Chapter One**

Reno Spiegel and Drakonlily

Everyone knew how Cloud Strife led a group of ragged heroes to save the world from certain doom, only after taking out the company that started the whole mess in the first place.  Then there was the meteor.  Its harsh heat and light spread across the world like flame over a gas covered floor.  The ice covered northern continent melted, taking half of the planet with it.  Wutai's once proud plains were gone, instead the survivors somehow managed to board an old Shinra craft.  Now the whole of the city floats around, some grounded starship in a damaged world. 

Cosmo Canyon and Gongaga shared one small island. The handful of creatures surviving didn't need much space anyway, so if one had to think about it, the scenario wasn't all that bad. 

Mt. Nibel was covered in an ashy residue from the mountains, while Icicle Inn became more like Lake Cabin.  Bone Village, while still there in location, was leveled to the ground. 

Kalm faired well, moving towards Midgar; the sole savior of the technological mecha was the plate that had been so hated.  Fort Condor, half covered now by ocean, was slowly rebuilding. There was no more Junon to mention, or Costa del Sol for that matter.  

The only two places to really survive were Corel and the Gold Saucer.  Its jail was wiped away, but it somehow remained.  The Gold Saucer became a city, sitting on a vast plate of glass. 

Walking on glass has a funny way of forcing one to look at one's self.  

Reno had come to the Gold Saucer after the ocean had risen, one because it was one of the last safe havens of the Planet, and two because he had an unquenchable thirst for gambling. 

He had demanded after their last battle with AVALANCHE that the Turks disband temporarily and meet in Junon when Meteor had fallen. Rude and Elena, looking like the most rejected people in the world, had walked off away from him without a word, probably thinking he was the biggest egotistical asshole on the Planet.

He hadn't seen them since.

Trying not to look down at his mocking reflection in the mile-thick and giant plate of glass he was walking on, due to something about a heat flash on sand, he had been walking around out here in search of anything of value to bet on the Chocobo Race Tournament the next week.

He could faintly see a large black shape off the coast, which he often walked along because you could see the towering Gold Saucer for maybe a hundred miles in each direction so you never lost your way. He knew this as the Wutai carrier, where they had found refuge until they re-settled on solid ground.

So far his search, spanning a few days, hadn't yielded results. All he'd found was a shack with its door wide open, a freezer with a bit of spoiled meat in it, and an iron-post bed that was as hard as a marlboro in a potato sack. Nothing worth betting in there, but he had taken a bedpost for defense if needed.

If needed, of course, translated to, if his mag-rod were to somehow get separated from him.

A flash caught his eye, very short and sudden, and he looked in the direction he had seen it. Maybe a mile off, on the shore, was a small lump of something. It could be seaweed for all he knew, but it was something aside from a hot slab of glass, so he made his way for it with a little hurry in his speed.

What he found was something worse than seaweed.  "This must be how the Planet taunts people," he growled, prodding the thing with the bedpost. He was thoroughly disgusted something like this had even survived Meteor, especially after drifting so far, but there it was anyway.

The unconscious, but breathing, body of Cloud Strife.

The blonde seemed insistant on staying unconscious, but Reno felt obligated to do something now that he'd found the worthless "hero." Articles in the paper had said he'd gone missing, and here he was, completely defenseless except for his sword in its raggedy sheath, strapped to his back.

Reno damned the thing for sparkling and catching his eye.

Glancing at the high-rising Gold Saucer, Reno wiped the sweat off his forehead and damned his last bit of human decency to a deeper circle of hell as he grabbed Cloud Strife's leg and began dragging him the forty-some miles back to the amusement park he now called home.

It was maybe six hours later, a short time due to the fact there wasn't much to go around on a big plate of glass, that Reno walked into the Gold Saucer, hoisted Cloud over his shoulder, and started to one of the apartments, where he was residing after a deal with Dio.

About halfway there, he ran into one of his poker "buddies," who smiled toothily at him. "Hey, Drannor. Find anything to bet next week?" he growled.

Reno stared at him for a moment, then turned and showed him the man's face. "Yeah," he said over his shoulder. "Cloud fucking Strife." And with that, he went to his room with a big smirk.


	2. Chapter Two

**What the Turk Dragged in : Chapter Two**

Reno Spiegel and Drakonlily

Sephiroth… 

No, something… falling… maybe?  

Wet, hot, cold, then --

Cloud Strife sat bolt upright.  Pain clattered through his body, down his arms and around his broad shoulders.  He fell back to his elbows, on a...bed?  The room was dark, but his bright eyes lit almost everything around him.  The off-blue light showed a faded photo of people, he knew them… a bald guy, some Wutain…  the Turks.  "What the...?" he mumbled, trying to get his bearings. 

His head pounded; his mouth was dry.  Then his stomach growled.  Startled by the sound, he fell back to the bed.  Though who's it was he didn't know.  The pillow smelled comforting somehow, like brandy and old smoke.  Then something that shone purple in the light of his eyes caught his attention… a hair on the pillow.  

Rolling over, Cloud blinked at it, the name of it's owner was on the tip of his tongue.  Ryan? No... Regan?  No; why was his head so muddled up?  How long had he been wherever he was?  He was almost asleep again, when the name hit him.

Reno Drannor. 

Again Cloud sat up, this time remembering everything.  Sephiroth was dead, but if he was alone, did that mean that everyone else was dead, too?  And how did he get here?  He looked at the door again, wondering if there really was anything on the other side, or if this was just his strange, quasi-comfortable version of hell.  Then again, hell would be comfortable after five years with Hojo…  

He forced himself up out of the bed, shaking his head to clear it and walked out the bedroom door.  The door felt heavy; he really was beat.  Leaning in the door frame he looked to his right, batting a blonde bang from his face.  Directly to his other side was a door, but a television set caught his attention.  Just brighter then the drone from the box was a pair of Mako-blue eyes. 

It was Reno, just as he had been the last time they'd met.  The man was hard to forget: perpetual smirk, with a lanky runner's build, he would stand out without the bright red hair, or the scars accenting his eyes.  Shaking his head again, Cloud cleared his throat, in an attempt to talk without sounding like he swallowed the ocean. 

Reno had only half-heard the door open, rather preoccupied with the newscast about how many Wutains had died on the carrier today due to disease. They were simply shoved overboard and left to float until they decayed, a legal thing being as how they were their own city.

But when Cloud had cleared his throat, his eyes flickered to him. He regretted not wearing a shirt now, but he would survive. About thirty seconds passed before Reno snarled. "I drag you forty-five miles to safety after you wash up on the shore and you just gawk at me?"

He threw one of the icepacks on his knees at him, turned back to the television, and raised the volume.

Surprisingly enough, Cloud caught the pack and threw it back at the red head.  "Where the fuck am I?" he snarled, his deep voice sounding far rougher from the sea water.  He looked at Reno's kitchen and made his way over to it, digging in the cabinets for a glass. 

Reno would have told him to keep his hands out of the redhead's rather-sanitary plates, but it died on his lips, too trivial to yell about. He put the icepack on his knee and wrapped a bandage around it before replying, "My apartment in the Gold Saucer. Like I said, you washed up and I dragged you back."

At last finding a glass, Cloud filled it with water and downed it. While filling another one, he looked over the counter at Reno.  The man had a faint lateral scar on his chest.  Cloud knew damn well where it came from: their fight on the plate.  Of all the people to drag him here and help him, why would Reno be one of them?  And where were the rest of the Turks, for that matter?

Of all the questions in his head, Cloud only asked one.  "Why?"

Reno decided he would get no peace for some time, and shifted forward, kicking the at TV's controls until it turned off, and stood up. He looked rather awkward with the packs of ice wrapped around his knees, but they helped. Turning, he hobbled over and joined the man in the kitchen and started hunting through cabinets for food. "Because I was looking for..." He paused. "You know, fuck it. I don't even know why. Grab a frying pan, wouldja?"

Cloud obliged.  Blinking at Reno again.  "You dragged me Ifrit knows how far for no reason?"  Brushing past the red head in the kitchen he crossed out of the way, drinking more of the large glass of water and sitting down at a small table.  His body hurt like nothing he had ever felt before.  Slumping onto the top of the table he asked lowly, "I was alone wasn't I?"

The redhead recalled a recipe for eggs benedict and turned the stove light on, adding a bit to his sight. He glanced at Cloud as he spoke, unable not to notice the man walked with a kind of grace you only found in the primest-cut SOLDIER, and the build to go along with it; he looked more like a wrestler than anything.

He opened the refrigerator and rifled around for what he needed, talking all the while with edge to his tone. "Ifrit don't know shit, Strife. Forty-five miles or I'll eat rocks until I die. And yeah, you were alone. Let me fill you in a bit, Hero-boy."

Cloud snorted a bit, sitting back up.  "Hero-boy?"

He ignored the comment and started talking. He told Cloud everything that had happened since Meteor fell, minus what had happened to Elena and Rude in the tunnel -- that wasn't his business -- and how everything was now. By the time he was done, he had two plates of eggs benedict for them, Cloud's twice the size of his because he'd probably been floating around for a good week.

Handing over his plate, Reno sat down on the opposite end of the couch and eyed him. "And that's what happened," he said before starting to eat his own food.

Cloud never had been one to ignore food, at least as well as his memory served.  His stomach twisted a bit, however.  Reno was alone, that had to mean the other two were dead.  As close as the three seemed…  He looked down, trying to ignore the shirtless Reno.  

They ate in silence, Cloud actually finishing his before Reno.  He flumped back against the chair.  Cid, Nanaki, Vincent, Tifa, Cait, hells, he even felt badly for Barret…

He had to ask.  "Did Reeve...umm...ever make it out of Midgar?"

Reno gave him a look, then sighed, though he didn't look to depressed. "Me, Laney, Rude...we all got separated in the tunnels. I didn't get a chance to radio back to HQ before everything happened, but I wouldn't hold your breath." He was lying through his teeth about Rude and Elena, but it was still none of Strife's business.

"You didn't look for them?"  Cloud blinked.

A silver fork hit the wall, and Reno's eyes literally flared, his Mako blood boiling. "Strife, people tend to pick up the hint when I have them over that the sooner I please them, the sooner I want them out. Mind your own fucking business."

He relapsed into silence, seeming very intent not to speak with the blonde anymore.

Cloud snorted.  "You don't even know why the hell you dragged me out here.  I had half a mind to accuse you of something regarding Dio and his dislike of me.  But now I think you're more screwed in the head than even I am."

His "companion" couldn't help himself. "Yeah, well at least I've got enough sense to pick friends who aren't stupid enough to fly into a goddamn crater that's just waiting for a reason to kill people."

"As opposed to being the fucking cowards that wouldn't do anything about it in the first place?" Cloud snapped.  His head was pounding, his muscles ached, and for some reason he just wanted to curl back up in Reno's bed and smell his pillow.  That thought alone made him mad for some reason. 

Reno stood up abruptly, narrowing his eyes at the blonde. "Oh, go fuck yourself, Strife. You just floated around for two weeks in the sea, and if we hadn't been paid off to ignore it and let you and your friends go handle it -- the phrase "fucking cowards" might help you grasp that idea a bit better -- you'd be out there on the coast as dead as the rest of AVALANCHE! Don't preach your bullshit to me!"

Cloud rolled his bright blue eyes, "I'm sorry" was poised on his lips, but he changed his mind.  "If I didn't hit so close to home, it wouldn't have pissed you off."  He stood as well, shouldering past the much lighter Reno roughly before going into his bathroom.  He had to admit, that even when he was pissed off, Reno smelled good.

Shivers ran up Reno's arm when Cloud brushed past, pissing him off further, and he glared so hard at the door he thought it would fly open. "And if I hadn't hit so close to home, Sector Seven woulda been a lot happier!" he yelled. He wasn't sure what he was getting at with that; he just wanted Strife out of his bathroom.

Cloud wanted to slam the door hard, but of course, he didn't have the strength at the moment.  He wondered absentmindedly if the doors really were heavy, or if he was just so drained.  He peeled off his shirt, throwing it next to Reno's toilet.  The bathroom was clean, surprisingly so, as if Reno cleaned it after he used it every time.  The blonde blinked at his own reflection.  He looked as worn out as he felt.  Leaning on the sink, he rubbed his eyes.

He deliberately didn't look at the wishbone shaped scar on his chest, running up his ribcage and splitting where his ribs did.  He didn't exactly remember when it happened, but he knew how.  He always knew a lot more then he let on he did with AVALANCHE.  Maybe that is why he wasn't so worked up about them all being gone.  They used him, point blank.

And then he ended up the one place he didn't even think he wanted to.  Reno's.  Cloud had to admit that the red head was a very nice cook.  Easy on the eyes, too… If only he didn't have that attitude problem.  He pushed off the sink with a growl, taking off the rest of his clothes and getting in the shower, also as neat as could be.  Oddly amused at the whole thing, Cloud allowed himself a smile.  

It lingered.  The shower smelled like Reno, too, without the cigarette smoke.  Why did the asshole have to smell so nice?  So comforting?  Turning the water all the way to "hell" hot, he leaned his head against the wall.  The water felt good, pounding on his head, on his sore chest and arms.  God, he hurt.  He counted numerous scratches and bruises that would be there long after he felt better.  And then his thoughts wandered back to Reno…

Reno was washing the plates off in the kitchen by the time Cloud got into the shower, his appetite positively obliterated. And it was looking at the faucet that he got the idea. Moving quickly, and still grumbling that Cloud was in his bathroom screwing with his things, he left his apartment and ran for the nearest staircase, taken them two at a time down four flights to the "control" room. The door was propped open at all times by a big pole, not the best move, so he walked right in and found the panel he was looking for. He grabbed the nearest wrench, seeing this perfectly despite the low lighting, and attached it to the Room 202 Hot Water knob, turning it as far off as he could without breaking the knob.

Feeling accomplished, Reno put on his best "Who's the dumbass now?" smirk and walked casually back up the stairs and to his apartment door, expecting to fling the door open, march in graciously, and laugh at a half-dressed and freezing Cloud Strife, who would look at him in a state of utter misery and proclaim the war was lost on his side.  Of course, he thought as he tried the door and found it locked, that was if he could get in without his key.  Backing up, he kicked the door as hard as he could and shifted the blame with his mood. "Open the door, Strife!"

"Io non parlo englaish!" came Cloud's deep voice from the other side.

Reno refused to admit he must have looked as miserable as he's hoped Cloud would have as he rattled the doorknob, frowning. Locking Reno out of his apartment when he didn't even want you in there with his supervision was not a good way to get on his better side. "Shut your trap and open the goddamn door!"

There was a rustling of...Reno only wished he didn't know what from the other side.  "Holy, Reno, what size shirts do you wear?  Child's?!"  Cloud at last unlocked the door, leaning on the frame, clean and in one of Reno's larger tee-shirts, a medium.  The black shirt was stretched tight on his muscular chest, even the muscles of his stomach stood out.  Or it could have just been Reno.  The blonde man, however didn't seem to want to wear Reno's pants; the dirty ones he had on were the same Reno had dragged him back in.

The ex-Turk broke his gaze from the stretched-out T-shirt, quickly blaming it on the fact he was probably stretching his shirt out to the point of no return, and shoved past him, not really caring how offensive he was. To his horror, he saw a massive pile of clean clothes overturned on his coffee table, and growled, snatching up his key and spinning on his heel. "Get your shoes; we're going to the bar."

Cloud smirked, seeming to see where the other man's eye line was going.  But he knew better than to say anything and followed the red head.

Reno basically had him by the collar outside the door, making sure it was locked and his key was safely in his pocket, before stomping off toward the elevator, fuming. He jabbed the 'Down' button so hard that it stuck for a moment before making the chime noise.

Cloud snickered again from behind Reno.  Who would have thought, the place the last date he was on would be the first place he showed up again?

The ex-Turk's head whipped toward him as the elevator doors closed, slightly disappointed he had figured out it was safer here than throwing himself down via the balcony. "What's so goddamn funny?"

Cloud shook his head.  "Nothing at all, Reno..." These elevators were small, oddly so.  Maybe it was just Cloud being claustrophobic, but well, damn.

"Yeah, I'll bet," he muttered, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms over his chest. He had a horrible dislike for Cloud, no matter what anyone might say about his dragging him here. And he wasn't at all happy about being shacked up together with him, let alone in this horribly-small -- he'd noticed, too -- elevator with him.  "Get on your side."

The blond flat palmed both walls, leaning into Reno.  "Can't exactly help it, skinny."  With a laugh at Reno's expression, Cloud leaned back against the wall again.

Reno squinted one eye at him. "You're creepin' me out, Strife. Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

Again, Cloud just laughed. The door beeped and he waited for Reno to lead the way.

The redhead hurried out of the elevator, going to the bar area mechanically. He had to dodge a few kids wearing birthday hats to get there, but the "Twenty-One And Over Only!" sign told him he'd made it in one piece. He signaled to the bartender he wanted the usual and took the corner stool, looking more and more depressed.

Cloud took a seat one bar stool away from Reno.  The bartender looked dead at him for a few moments before saying.  "Hey... do I know you?"

"Doubt it. Jack, no ice..." was the reply. The man shrugged and turned to get Cloud a glass.

Reno had to admit, the guy was smooth in a bar. He slumped forward, folding his arms under his chin, and fixed his gaze on the small TV near the ceiling. He would have been talking it up with the usuals if anyone but Cloud Strife had been sitting next to him.

He didn't even look twice at the drink the tender put down in front of him, but watched Cloud inspect his before taking a drink. He lifted his head enough to speak. "Not all the bars outside Nibel are full of germs and slum-trash, you know."

Again Cloud rolled his blue eyes, but this time he said nothing.

Reno fell into silence as well, settling back down and eyeing his drink. He was really looking through it and catching the reflection of the TV behind him in it, where they were releasing who had won what sports game, and he looked away, scowling.

He'd been watching them all, and now his wallet was half its original size.

He noticed Strife casting him glances and narrowed his eyes. "What is it?"

"You just ran the gauntlet of emotions there.  I take it you're a lousy better?"  He didn't smile, just downed half the jack quickly. 

Reno didn't much feel like telling him just how much he was down since Meteor, and his face just got darker. "I take it you're a lousy swimmer?" he growled.

Cloud rolled his eyes.  "You know, I think that you are more testy then you were before everything.  Feeling guilty?"

The redhead sat up, taking the first drink out of his glass so his mouth didn't forget the taste, and gave him a look that said "I dare you." He swiveled on his barstool to face him. "Guilty about what, Strife?"

Cloud downed the rest of his.  "Being alive while your friends aren't.  Unless, of course, I am wrong and you didn't give a shit about Rude or Elena."

That hit home. He wasn't quite sure if Cloud knew just what had transpired down in the tunnels, but Reno's weight was half on the tip of his left foot, resting on the ground as he half-stood. His face couldn't get any darker; his voice and mood could. "Listen, you ignorant, blonde, fuck. You don't know shit about them, you don't know shit about me. Stop pretending you do and watch your fucking tongue."

"I ain't pretending shit, your the one who isn't coming to terms, not me."

Cloud waved for another drink, he knew he was being mean, but there was something about Reno sulking that pissed him off. Not necessarily at Reno, but whatever it was at, he wasn't happy.  He leveled another look at Reno.  "I shoulda guessed.  Split up my ass, you dumped them like trash and took off.  I mean, fuck, the blonde may have been a bit helpless, but I thought at least you woulda found Rude a little useful."

Reno slammed his glass down so hard that a crack ran up the side, standing and going around his barstool. Usual patrons began heading for the door, many having felt the wrath of Reno's frustrations before. "I told you already, you don't know shit about any of us! And besides, at least I wasn't with a cripple and a slut for months on end. Not a guy in Midgar who hadn't seen every bra Lockheart wore aside from you."

He smirked again.  "You think I care about whatever you think of her?  Changing the subject doesn't exactly work all the time."  Once again, the drink disappeared.  "Or me for that matter?  Just name calling to put blame off on other people?  How about growing the fuck up and taking some damn responsibilities?"

Reno didn't put half his power into his first hit, clipping Cloud's jaw and literally wiping the smirk off his face. He had been caught in his own lie; responsibilities were things he'd chosen to get rid of after ShinRa had given him some suits, shades, and his mag-rod. "Shut your fucking yap...you don't know what you're talking about..."

Cloud snarled.  He should have known better: here he was still aching from floating around the ocean for two weeks, after getting into Lord knows how long of a fight with Sephiroth, and starting yet another fight with Reno.  To late now, "from the  looks of things I know EXACTLY what I am fucking talking about."

The redhead reached over the bar and grabbed a random bottle, smashing it against the bar and holding up the jagged neck. He waved it at Cloud's face, his eyes a mixture of insanity and pure hate. Swinging the bottle back, he jabbed for the blonde's chest. "GIVE ME MY GODDAMN SHIRT BACK!"

Cloud jumped from the bar stool, amazing himself that he even held his balance.  Spinning around Reno, he aimed his elbow for the other man's side, he missed. The wooden bar shattered in that area, splintering out from the impact.  People who had been stupid enough to stay around ran at that point.  

Reno flung the bottle against the wall, kicking their barstools away and spinning round, dipping his head and swinging his leg at the other man's neck.

He knew that if Reno managed to stay away from him,  the other man's longer reach and better speed would win over his strength.

Solution: Get in close.

Cloud wasn't exactly fast, but he made up for it by being built like a Sherman Tank.  Rolling his shoulder to the impact he tackled Reno to the floor.  Then he stood up again, executing a snapmare, head locking Reno and tossing the lighter man over his shoulder into a table.  Unfortunately, the momentum threw Cloud on the ground as well.  The blonde stood up yet again, panting.  He had no business fighting at this moment, especially with a trained Turk.

Reno sprang up off the table, having been in more than his fair share of barfights over the years, and used his own momentum to fly at the blonde man, bringing his fist back and nailing him in the jaw as hard as he could. Cloud made a small 'oof' noise before lifting from the ground, spinning, and coming to rest half on his side, at an angle. Reno looked down at him, feeling no accomplishment, and threw the nearest drink at his head, hearing it shatter just before he kicked the bar door open and stormed back toward his room.

Reno got back to the apartment quickly, still furious, and slammed through the door after unlocking it, not entirely sure he'd even touched the doorknob. He had planned to go directly to bed, but the mess on the floor caught his eye and he growled loudly, kicking the door shut and walking over to it, looking down at his unfolded pile of clothes.

"No good son of a bitch," he muttered, opening one of his large dresser drawers right behind him and throwing everything in, shutting the drawer with a bit of difficulty. It might have been due to the disorganization of it all, or at the fact his knuckles were throbbing.

"Out of sight is out of mind," he recited in a mock falsetto, walking to the kitchen and opening the freezer. He took out an icepack and applied it directly to his hand. If his knees hadn't gotten over the walk, he would have been an absolute mess right about then.

He was thinking about Cloud and all the trouble that came as his baggage for at least an hour, while cleaning various things with the hand he was still using, until his apartment looked as respectable as it had before.

He hated himself for being a closet neat-freak.

He hated Cloud for knowing just where to hit him to irritate him.

After enough time had passed to the point where he didn't figure Cloud was coming back, at least for the night, he locked the door and turned off all the lights, glancing at the clock and seeing it was only 11:30.

A bit early, but Reno was fed up with this.

He grabbed a rag to wrap around the icepack, and in turn his hand, and trudged off to bed, slamming the door behind him, despite the fact he was the only one there. He fell onto the bed fully-clothed, propping his hand a safe distance away, and buried his face in the pillows.

A moment later, he yelled into it, but then relaxed and started drifting off, his last conscious thought being:

They smelled just like Strife.


	3. Chapter Three

**What the Turk Dragged in : Chapter Three**

Reno Spiegel and Drakonlily

Cloud leaned back against the wall.  After picking himself up the bar floor, he paid for the damages to the bar and and picked up their tab.  It proved to be as extensive and large as Reno's mouth.  He was glad he had the good sense to get a bank account and a debit card during his journey around the planet.  After looking at an updated map he was also glad he didn't by the beach house when he had the chance at Costa.  That would have been a sad state of affairs. 

He felt badly for being a prick, but sometimes people needed wake up calls.  It wasn't worth the redhead's time to be a two bit gambler moping and drinking his ass away at the bar.  Of course, Cloud didn't think it should be worth his own time to help Reno out. 

But maybe it was.  After all, he did owe Reno a big one. 

"Guy's a fucking asshole, dodging his own life at the damn bar," Cloud muttered, wandering to a newer mall area.  He pulled on the black shirt that he'd taken off to press to the minor wound on his chin and get the blood off.  "And he's a fucking stick."

After buying a long sleeved shirt that actually fit him -- Reno's shirt failed to live getting off Cloud -- a pair of jeans, and new boots, he felt better.  He also felt strange.  Hands jammed in his pockets, Cloud wandered around the "garden" of  the Gold Saucer.  He wondered what Reeve would think of this place now.  Then he gritted his teeth.  Reno had told him that they were all gone, and Cloud didn't have a reason to disbelieve him. 

And he felt like a world class prick himself for not even feeling badly for one of them.  All of them had nothing but their own selfish wants and goals, they were banded together under some false brand of heroism.  He was no better. 

He slid on the new dirt of the more recent developments, having wandered into a construction area.  "Fuck, I'm tired…"  The dirt had been air-lifted in from Cosmo Canyon to give the place a look of authenticity.  Shaking his head, Cloud turned back to the only place he felt comfortable sleeping -- Reno's.

He stopped himself in mid-thought.  Why the hell was he going to Reno's?  The man made his hate of Cloud very obvious.  But, it smelled nice there.  It was clean,  safe… and -- and what?  Cloud sighed.  He knew very well what.  He was lonely when the red-headed jackass wasn't around.

"Fucking prick, making me actually like him…" Cloud grumbled.  Hitting the elevator button to get up to Reno's, he leaned against the wall, smiling in memory of the close quarters.  Then he shook his head again.  Digging in his pocket he brought out Reno's spare key with a snicker.  

Opening the door he let out a sigh of relief.  The place was back to almost immaculate order.   Reno was, indeed, a clean freak.  He hadn't imagined it.  Cloud closed the door quietly, as he didn't want to wake Reno.  Leaning on the wall he wondered why the hell he even cared that the red head was so mad at him.  Or why he made him that mad in the first place.  

Then he knew. He didn't really like the idea of Reno reveling in self hate.  Admitting he actually liked Reno on some level, Cloud locked the door.  If Reno was pissed off at Cloud, he wasn't pissed off at himself.  He looked down at his still muddy steel toed boots.

And, thinking mainly of Reno's nice clean carpet, left them on to walk to the couch and fall asleep.

Reno had been waking up off-and-on all day, every time deciding not to get up because it wasn't worth it. Cloud wasn't coming back, he'd decided, and he wasn't hungry, so he slept until about three in the afternoon when his alarm clock finally went off.

This was just the tip of the iceberg about how hard Reno partied every night at the bar.

He finally resigned, needing to get some food before his stomach started digesting itself, and woke himself up, hopping out of bed -- still fully-clothed and clutching a lukewarm icepack -- and going to the door, unlocking and opening it.

What greeted him was a sight that made him wish he had a higher hunger tolerance. Muddy boot prints led to the couch, mud on the end of it from where said boots had been propped, and Cloud sat there, staring at the wall.

Reno stared at him, then crossed the main room after announcing, loudly, "I need some goddamn coffee!"

He walked into the kitchen and just hit the On button on the coffee maker, liking his coffee a day old anyway, just re-heated. Scratching his chest, he leaned against the countertop as he waited for the pot to start hissing, staring at the side of Cloud's head. "What're you here for? Didn't I smack your dumb ass hard enough last night?"

Cloud only yawned, stretching his arms above his head and propping his still-muddy boots up on the table.

Reno scowled. "Fine, be that way." He put more weight on the counter, muttering "Jackass" beneath his breath. It was so quiet, though, that Cloud could probably hear him perfectly.

Good.

The blonde looked Reno up and down lazily.  Then he smiled and started whistling "You Are My Sunshine".

The redhead positively hated the sound of whistling, so he grabbed the pot of coffee and sucked down half of it right there, despite it being cold, throwing his icepack in the sink for now. Setting the pot down, he walked across the room to the closet and threw it open, laying eyes on his loud, portable steam-cleaner.

Company present he'd managed to get moved from his old place, as they weren't cheap by any means.

He tore it out of the closet, Cloud's whistling getting louder, and found the nearest outlet for the wireless power source. He plugged it in and, starting at the beginning of the footprints, turned the thing on and appreciated how much it drowned out Cloud's mindless whistling.

He was pleased to see how easily the ugly brown spots came out of his well-laid white carpet, and ran over each one until they disappeared completely, reminding himself to do something about the couch later. Of course, this led him right to Cloud's legs, and he paused, eyeing him. Over the noise, he yelled, "Move your feet!"

Cloud cupped his hand to his ear in an exaggerated motion indicating that he couldn't hear Reno.  Or that he was pretending he couldn't hear Reno.

Reno shut off the cleaner, trying to resist the undying urge to pick it up and give Cloud's face a cleaning. He shifted his weight, looking massively irritated. "Move your feet, Strife."

Cloud cocked his head up at Reno, again looking up and down before sliding further down in the couch and more in Reno's way.  He then laughed lowly and started a whistled version of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?".

The ex-Turk once again began to doubt the validity of Cloud's sexual orientation. He looked ready to throw Cloud off the couch personally. "I said move your feet, Strife. You heard me damn well."

Cloud laughed again.  "I just like pissing you off."

Reno didn't appreciate it nearly as much, and he'd finally fully grasped that, shoving the steam cleaner over and snarling at Cloud. "Move your fucking feet, Strife!"

Cloud seemed to make something up in his mind for a second then said, in at least some resemblance of seriousness, "You know you are cute when you are pissed off?"

This gave him pause. He dismissed it as a head-game and only looked angrier. "What the hell are you playing at here?!"

"Yup."  Cloud responded, but he did at last move his feet off the table.  Rocking up to a sitting position, he put his feet on the floor. 

This didn't help any, as his feet had just landed right where Reno had planned to clean. He noticed the bruise between Cloud's neck and jaw and found he didn't mind giving him another one at all. Grabbing him by the shoulder, Reno warned, "Stand the hell up or I throw you over the table."

"And break your table?  I really doubt you can pitch me over it." Cloud laughed.

Reno showed Cloud just how much he cared about the blonde's assumptions, kicking the table over and throwing Cloud onto the floor where it had been in a swift movement, not looking like it had helped to please him.

From the floor, Cloud let out a low laugh.  "Huh...well I'll be damned."  

"Oh, don't give me that shit! I remember kicking your ass a lot worse before." He lifted his leg, looking ready to nail Cloud in the side, and would have, had the blonde not caught his leg and flipped him over, Reno landing on the floor a few feet away.

Cloud rolled to one side.  "Funny, I seem to recall being the one kicking your little ass. "  Flipping to his feet quickly, the blonde walked around to where Reno was, standing over the red head and looking in his face.  "Are you going to play nice, or be huffy all day?"

The ex-Turk grabbed the bottom of Cloud's shirt, basically throwing himself to his feet, albeit a tad uneasily. He spun and stared Cloud directly in the eyes. "I could tell you to get the hell out; how's that sound for an alternative?"

Reno's pull had brought the two men closer together.  Cloud looked at Reno for a few minutes, the other man's arms were crossed in front of his chest, his eyes blazing.  Maybe he really was pissed off. "Fine then."  He turned on heel and started to the door.

That wasn't exactly the reaction he'd expected...nor the one he particularly looked forward to.

And so it may have been horribly confusing for Cloud as to why the ex-Turk caught him by the shoulder and spun him around right before he could get a hand on the doorknob, but it would probably be a lot more easy for him to figure out how Reno knew his mouth tasted of cheap mouthwash and a hint of the Jack he had downed the night before.

Cloud staggered back, rather lucky he'd hit the wall right next to the door, and heard Reno's palms smack loudly against the wall to either side of his head. Despite the fact his eyes were pinched closed so tightly that all he could see was little white dots forming, he figured Reno was looking as menacing as ever as he relented for a moment, saying in a low voice, "Fucking coward my ass," before resuming where he'd left off.

Reno pulled back, just to catch his breath.  Cloud opened his eyes, not as shocked as he thought he would be.  "Pushy little shit," Cloud muttered, yanking Reno back to him by the collar. 

Reno's hands found their way to Cloud's pants line. "Damn straight."

Cloud's hand's covered Reno's then the stronger blonde hauled up, throwing Reno's arms above his head.  Reno growled as Cloud let a free hand go to the zipper of his jeans.  "Hey.  Not -- ah!"

"You were saying?"  Cloud asked.

Suddenly, Reno's heel was at the back of his knee.  Then he landed flat on his back, Reno on top of him.  The redhead  brought his nose down to Cloud's. "I was trying to say 'me first'.  Greedy shit."  Whatever Cloud was going to say was cut of with another kiss.  

Reno didn't bother to finish vacuuming the floor.


	4. Chapter Four

**What the Turk Dragged in : Chapter Four**

Reno Spiegel and Drakonlily

It was around noon the next day that Reno's eyes finally opened, and he was faintly aware that he was staring directly at the wall, no more than an inch away. He groaned as he rolled onto his side, seeing the ceiling and side of the bed at once, and realizing something.

"...That bastard stole my bed."

Grinning at the irony of it all, he fished around beneath said bed for his clothes, resigning when he had Cloud's pants on, and stood up, trying to ignore the popping of every joint from his neck to his knees.

Indeed, Cloud lay sprawled across the bed beneath Reno's best comforter, and the redhead probably would have smacked him had it not been who it was.

Instead, he patted the blonde lightly on the calf that was hanging off the bottom of the mattress -- he had a guess that he would be up soon due to the fact he had muttered and curled up at the action. He walked right out the open door and noticed his answering machine's light was blinking on and off.

"RENO!" He gasped. "God, we've been looking all over for you. Finally got Dio's number and figured out you were there. We'll be over around two this afternoon; be ready to go out for lunch." The message ended, and Reno was left gaping, shaken a bit.

Cloud's voice drifted groggily from the other room. "Who was that? She sounded familiar."

The other's response was walking stiffly back into the room, jaw still hanging down. "Cloud...Elena and Rude are coming here in an hour and a half. I recommend getting dressed and out of my bed before then. Clear?"

"Huh?"  Cloud sat up  He looked around the room and made a face. The place looked like there had been a holy war

If he'd said that aloud, Reno would have feebly argued the usage of the word war. "You know, the blonde chick and the bald guy? They're coming for lunch, and if they don't see this place spotless like my old apartment always was, they'll know something's up." He would have normally been shouting, but the thought of Rude's reaction -- especially after the redhead's brief relationship with Tseng...

"Shit," Cloud muttered, moving quickly.  He threw on his shirt and boxers and then blinked at Reno.  "You have my pants on. I can't fit in yours."  Setting the alarm clock back up on the nightstand, the blonde sighed.  "Well, if they find me here they are going to know something is up.  Should I clear out?"

"No, no. If anything, Dio knows you're here and told them I dragged your heavy ass forty-five miles to get you here. They'd think it was weird if you just scrammed," he informed him. Reno then remembered the pants...then smirked. "Makes it all the more interesting, Spike."

He quickly darted out into the main room, flinging open the closet and taking out the vacuum -- Planet knows how it happened, but there were potato chip crumbs all over the floor -- and leaving it there for the blonde. "Vacuum, Cloud," he called back, grabbing the steam-cleaner and getting to work on the mud that had now had time to set in the carpet.

Cloud blinked at the banana peel Reno was picking up from the TV.  He had no idea how that, of all things, got there.  Starting the vacuum, Cloud also realized that the couch was somehow on its side.

The ex-Turk preferred not to know how the banana peel got there, but he decided he had enough theories about the couch to know how it had gotten set as such an angle, tipping it back to where it had been and then working on the mud on the cushions, watching Cloud out of the corner of his eye the entire time.

Vacuuming the apartment was the easy part; the kitchen was more of a mess. He didn't notice that Reno's boxers from last night were in the sink... the fridge door was slightly ajar... After loading the dishwasher to what he was sure was overflow, Cloud went into the bathroom and muttered one word.  "Fuck..."

Reno's ears had become tuned in to swearing of all kinds, due to the fact it usually signaled a fact he wanted to be a part of, and put down what he was working on, walking over and standing on his toes slightly to see over Cloud's shoulder. "...Shit."

"How did we --?"  Cloud looked at Reno.  The only thing in seemingly good order was the toilet.  The sink was broken, the faucet pulled up from it's place.  The towel bar was sitting on top of the toilet seat, the shower curtain -- part of it, at least -- was on the floor.

Reno paused as well, gaping almost as widely as he had at the answering machine. He wasn't sure where the towels themselves had went, but had a sneaking suspicion they weren't clean, wherever they were. He scratched his head. "Mighta been...I had a couple drinks when you went down to cancel our wakeup call...you remember anything this bad?"

Cloud only shook his head, then leaned on the door.  "Know anyone who is out of town?  Give me a toolbox, a new faucet, new towel bar, I can fix it." Then he laughed.  "Damn, we're good."

Reno smirked, knocking heads with him, and then went back to all-business mode. "Neighbors went out on their honeymoon, lucky us, but I don't know what they've got in the way of tools. Go check it out; I'll try to get things..." He took a beat and laughed at himself. "Straight."

Cloud laughed.  "Ah... no, I'm quite fine."  He ducked out of the apartment.

The redhead watched him as he left -- certain parts of him, anyway -- and wondered if he should give his pants back sometime soon. Chuckling, he took a moment to reflect on just what had happened over the past three days -- maybe four by now...he didn't remember.

"Either way," he muttered, going back to cleaning up everything cleanable in the main room and throwing away anything that looked like it had been out of the fridge or freezer for too long.

The main room was relatively easy, and Cloud returned looking triumphant before disappearing into the bathroom with the tools he needed, and then it was on to the bedroom.

This took a bit longer.

Inside the bathroom, Cloud sat down one of the two duffle bags he had borrowed without asking and hefted the other to the sink. Changing the faucets didn't take long.  Dio had had them cheaply installed.  That had to be why it broke so easily. After putting up the new shower curtain -- thank Holy they were not a flower couple -- Cloud sat down on the toilet with a smirk.  Not bad.  Hell, in fact, this whole week was turning out pretty good.  

As little bits of last night came back to him he laughed.  "Yeah, worth floating in the ocean for two weeks, I think."  He opened Reno's window, looking to the broken bath items and down to the alley of sorts below him. He decided against it, taking them into the bedroom.  Knowing how neat Reno was, they would fit under the bed.

Speaking of under the bed, Reno was, at least half of him.  "Now that's interesting."  Cloud commented to the half sticking out from under the bed.  

Reno's legs seemed to dance a mid-air jig just to humor him, and then he pulled himself out from under it, three towels in hand. Strange thing was, nothing seemed wrong with them. He looked and Cloud and cocked a brow.

"Now I'm upset. Here I thought we had managed to tear everything up...."  He picked one up, turning it around.  He opened his mouth, closing it then opening it again.  Only one word could form, "Why?"

Reno kicked him in the back of the knee, plucking the towel from his grasp as he fell, smirking down at him. He wriggled out of the poor blonde's pants, dropping them onto his face with his foot and walking to the bathroom to hang the towels up with a chortle.

"Don't be a cock-tease!"  Cloud yelled, pulling his pants on.  Walking out into the apartment, he was impressed.  They had express cleaned the place in less then an hour.

The ex-Turk couldn't resist sticking his tongue out as he went by, obviously in a much better mood than he had been in the past few days, and shutting the door to his bedroom after disappearing inside.

His dresser was out in the main room, but he hopped on the bed and popped a ceiling tile loose, sliding it aside and reaching in, feeling around.

Finally his hand hit a square box and he pulled it out, dropping it onto the bed with an underlying look of nostalgia as he hopped down and opened it, knowing the navy blue suit like he knew his own body.

Knowing this was the last time he would be wearing it professionally, he put it on in a short time, haphazardly as always, and walked back out to the main room after making up the bed.

Cloud started. The suit made Reno look, well, different.  Not that it didn't look good on the man.  But it made him look entirely unlike the one who threw a hissy fit when there was mud on the floor.  "Reno?"

Reno seemed distracted, and not by any type of mess. He was focused solely on the fact that this was it; he was about to meet Elena and Rude as friends, no longer as co-workers.

The knowledge that the Turks were over hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Hm?" he grunted, Cloud having to repeat his name to snap him out of it.

For the first time since they met, Cloud was legitimately worried about Reno.  "Are you alright?"

He nodded, but Reno's eyes were far away. Maybe five, ten years back when Tseng had thrown him a suit, sunglasses, a lighter, and a mag-rod, saying to him, "Put these on and forget everything you were, Mick. Today, you're Reno Drannor. Today, you're a Turk."

"Your a shitty liar for a Turk."  Cloud muttered.

Reno fixed him with burning eyes, now seeing him as an AVALANCHE member and not the man he'd seen him as the day before. "Turks are the lowest of the low, Cloud. I'm not a shitty anything for a Turk. You can't go below Turk in the social-status dog pile." He was back to his suit voice, the voice he used in conferences.

The voice that haunted orphans' dreams.  

Cloud growled.  "Fucking bullshit.  You want to know what the human shit pile is? It starts with Shinra and ends with Hojo, and they are rotting in fucking hell where they belong."

The redhead's hand found his sunglasses in his breast pocket, flipping them on and staring defiantly at him. "And I worked for one and under another. Take that how you like, Strife."

"'Doesn't make you one of them," Cloud snapped.  He stood up.  "You know what?  Fine, hide." He made a motion to the other man.  "But you have had a shit for life; that isn't your fault.  Where you were when we met the first time wasn't your fault anymore than it was mine.  But if you want to play that game. I won't."

"People who hide don't flaunt the suits of madmen who murder to get a fucking paycheck, Cloud!" he burst out. "People who hide don't wear an electric rod with a bloodstained handle on their beltloop! People who hide don't drag Planet-wide heroes forty-five miles in the open and walk through an amusement park with them over their shoulders! So don't preach to me about hiding; you've done plenty."

Cloud shook his head.  "I know I have." He rubbed the back of his neck.  "Fuck, Reno you have to be so damnned defensive.  What is it?  You weren't very loyal when you let us walk away from you all those times.  You weren't loyal to Shinra,  so who the fuck was it, Reno?"

"I was loyal to the Turks!" he cried out, like he'd said it before. "I was being loyal to Rude, to Elena, to Tseng when I could. Fuck, I would've gladly let myself die in Tseng's place if it meant he were still running the Turks today. Loyalties lie where emotions run thick, Cloud. Not where gil is the highest-sought-after reward."

Cloud balked, insulted. "Reno, never once would I accuse you of that! A drunk ass, yeah.  Fucking defensive?  Sure.  Dodging your damned life? You fucking bet. But I never thought any of you were greedy." He looked at the hallway, thinking about going to the door.  "I'm sorry, Reno."

Two words was all it took to bring him back to the ground. Reno'd known from the moment he put it on that a Turk suit changed people in the worst way, but at the same time made them loyal to their counterparts. He shoved his shades up into his hair and rubbed his eyes, heaving a sigh. "Shit... I...I just miss when it wasn't all about ShinRa against AVALANCHE. I miss doing a job, going home, going to sleep, and waking up the next day ready to do it again despite a massive hangover."

"I don't know what there is to miss about that kind of a life, honestly, Reno," Cloud responded, not looking at Reno.  "But I am sorry...for not being able to help him."  He laughed.  "For a lot of things, look, I don't want to be in your way."

Reno couldn't help but smirk. "Strife, if you were in my way, you wouldn't be standing here in my apartment. And..." He sighed again. Apologizing was a thing he still didn't do well, and he hoped Cloud got the hint.

"You know, you look much better in your jeans...." Cloud muttered.  He sat back down.  "I can stick around. Not like I have anywhere else to go."

He muttered something about Cloud looking much better out of his jeans, then shook his head to clear his mind and took on one of those creepy Wutain priest voices, making mocking hand motions. "Someday, you must hunt your past and meet it full-force. If you do not, peace shall never be achieved."

Cloud stuck his tongue out at Reno and then quipped in a pretty good imitation of the same voice.  "Man who stand on toilet high on pot."

Reno chuckled and rolled his eyes. "You're such a moron," he said in a passing voice between laughs.

"But I have a great ass."  Cloud responded.  Then there was a knock at the door.  Cloud swallowed.  Just because Reno was not holding grudges... He didn't quite know how Rude or Elena would feel about him sitting where he was.

He was given the 'be cool' look as Reno straightened up and walked to the door, taking a breath before opening it to reveal just who they'd been expecting. Elena looked ready to leap on him, but then she made a face at his suit. "You, too?" she demanded, stepping to the side to reveal Rude was wearing his suit as well, face fixed into a grin as he socked Reno in the shoulder.

Elena herself was a bit dressed-up, but not terribly so. More like casual-church clothing, Reno judged, returning the embrace she latched onto him with, then she stepped back and let Rude have his turn. Instead of the usual bear-hug plus elevation he was typically greeted with, Rude just hugged him and slapped him on the back, expression not changing.

Once they were in the door and talking hurriedly, they noticed Cloud on his couch and their moods took a change.

Cloud didn't bother to play friendly.  He only shrugged off the curious looks.   Rude looked from one man to the other, his eyes scanning the apartment before making a 'hmph' sound and sitting at the table.  

Elena seemed to have a bit more of a vocal reaction to the blonde's appearance; re-appearance to be proper. She pointed at him from just inside the apartment, Reno closing the door behind her. "Um...what the hell are you doing here?"

"Had no where else to go," Cloud responded to the other blonde.

Rude looked at Reno again, thinking.

The blonde woman rephrased. "Then...maybe I'd be better of asking how you GOT here?"

Cloud pointed at Reno. "Apparently, he lugged me here."

Rude then blinked, but said nothing

Elena looked skeptical, but Reno shrugged. "Hey, he looked pretty helpless washed up on the shore. Figured, why not help him out. Want something to drink?"

The woman arched a thin eyebrow at him. "You've changed over the past few weeks. Water, if you've got it," she said, taking a seat.

"Rude?" Reno called.

"Alcohol," the big man responded simply.  

Of course, Reno commented silently, walking to the kitchen-esque area and throwing open the fridge door, tossing the first beer of the night to Rude before grabbing a bottle of water -- for coffee, of course -- for Elena.

Rude shook his head.  "How the hell did your little ass carry his ass all the way from the shoreline?" It was plain Rude thought it a rather long way to go to "help out."

"Dragged him. Glass isn't too hard to slide a wet sack of shit forty-five miles across," he said nonchalantly. "Only took six hours."

"And so you just stuck around?" Rude questioned to Cloud.

The blonde man shrugged. "Like I said, where else'm I gonna go?"

Elena offered a suggestion. "Go hunt down your AVALANCHE partners? Shit, they've been doing interviews for the Junon Times for weeks asking for information on where you are. Didn't you at least catch one of those?"

Cloud blinked at her for a moment, recovering his shock too quickly for Elena to notice, but Rude was already looking at Reno.  The blonde threw Reno a glare before responding curtly. "I was floating around the damn ocean for two weeks.  In all honesty I have been sleeping."

Reno looked prepared to gut his former co-worker where she stood.

"Yeah," she said brightly. "I even ran into Highwind a few days ago; asked where you were. If you're confused, the Junon Times is running out of a remote location since the city went under, by the way."

"Thanks."  Cloud responded, seeming more shocked that Highwind had asked for him then the fact Reno had lied to him. "Where at?"

"I don't remember, exactly...where're they running out of again, Rude?" she asked, oblivious to the shady glances being thrown around among the men.

"Kalm," Rude responded, downing the beer.  He then got up, looked in Reno's fridge and frowned.  "We need to do a run. Come on, Reno."

Reno knew as well as the bald man did that there were about four cans of beer and a bottle of tequila in the crisper, but he followed Rude out the door with a wave nonetheless, knowing the big man was well onto him. "Run my ass," he said halfway down the hallway.

"What's going on?"  The bald man hit the elevator looking down at Reno.

Even Rude couldn't be let in on it, or he'd shoot Strife point-blank the next time he saw him, despite knowing about Tseng. "I was running around looking for betting money and I found him on the shore. Figured I'd be decent for a change and dragged him here. Bastard won't leave yet."

"So why didn't you tell him that his friends were looking for him?  That would have been an effective way to get him out of your hair."  Damn Rude for being smart.

"We were just bitching at each other the whole time; it skipped my mind to tell him once he got up," he defended.

"I'm going to shoot the bastard then, get him out of your hair," Rude offered with a straight face.

Getting more defensive now would just prove Rude's suspicions correctly, so he replied, "Whatever. Just wait until we're done at the bar tonight; fuck knows 'Lena won't like knowing you just shot Strife and went out to celebrate. And where the hell are we going, anyway?"

Rude snorted, pointing down the mall to a twenty-four-hour liquor store.  

Reno smirked. "Fine, but when I drink you under, you clean up your own mess, buck."

Upon returning to the apartment, Cloud was watching television, Elena shuffling a deck of cards.   The newscast showed a rather beaten-up Tifa Lockheart. The watcher glared at Reno again, before turning back to the TV.

Rude pretended not to notice by opening another beer.

Elena's head whipped toward Reno upon their reentrance. "You must not watch TV much, either. This's been running since you left."

Cloud turned it off with a snort.  He had heard his name more times in the past five minutes then he thought he had heard his whole life... well, minus yesterday with Reno...

Reno scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, well... Anything I read in the paper's all about the Wutai carrier... Morbid me, you know?" He sounded too nervous for Elena not to pick up on, but she seemed not to notice, thankfully not mentioning AVALANCHE articles had been page one news every day since Meteor.

"I should probably find a way to Kalm, then." Cloud muttered. He didn't sound like he really wanted to, though.

Elena couldn't resist, apparently. "Rude and I are shacked up there. We could bring you back with us tomorrow afternoon if you'd like. Everyone's been looking for you there anyway; I'm sure they'll want interviews." She was shuffling the cards repeatedly, like the true definition of insanity.

"Interviews?" Cloud was truly confused.

"With you!" she laughed, her bubbly self once more. "The papers all want to know where you went, what happened to you, what really happened after you disappeared...they've all got their theories, of course, but with you back in town, they'll be fighting over who gets the real story first." He still looked puzzled, so she threw her arms up. "You're a hero, Cloud. Jeez..."

The "hero's" head fell to the table.  "Fabulous...."

Reno tried to blend in with this. "I'm sure everyone'll shut up after a public speech or something...always worked with us after a mission," he muttered.

Cloud glared at the other man.  "Tifa seems to like being on TV, she can give the damn speeches..."

Elena shook her head. "Heroines are good and all, but they want the scoop from the leader of the pack."

Cloud let out a growl, getting up and going to get a beer of his own

"Issues, Strife?"  Rude asked

"Always," Cloud responded gruffly, sitting at the table across from Reno

Reno grabbed his own beer before sitting down, Elena finally putting the cards down and staring at them like they had Tarot marked on them. She looked around. "So...what's the game?"

Rude looked at Elena.  "Dealer picks"

She very-obviously slipped the stack of cards toward Cloud, then nodded in agreement and looked at him expectantly.

Reno had his own eyes on the tabletop. The blonde was either getting shot tonight or leaving the continent tomorrow. He flipped his shades down and went into business mode, no longer trying to sugar-coat things.

"No way. You shuffled, you deal 'em," Cloud muttered, downing the beer and getting up to get another.

Reno's eyes followed him as he went, sinking into predator mode. Rude was looking directly at the redhead, and he sourly offered up, "Russian roulette? I've got pistols."

"I'm in," Cloud responded coldly.

Elena sensed tension here. "C'mon, guys, quit screwing around. You were in decent moods when we got here, too."

Reno fell into silence, looking at Rude. Despite the sunglasses, he knew the bald man knew he was watching him. "Any suggestions, Rude? Elena seems to mind the fatal ones, remember."

Rude snorted.  "How about you just tell us how your past two weeks have been; we'll do the same."

Cloud flopped back on Reno's couch, turning the TV back on, but taking the volume down to a barely audible level

Reno hit the table as though he wished he'd thought of the idea sooner. "Good one, Rude. Let's see, I bought this apartment, wasted fifteen-thousand gil on the chocobo races already, and Dio's going to evict me if I can't scrounge up the rent for the month. That and I found Strife and brought him back here." He took a breath. "What about you two?"

Rude thumbed at Elena.  "Got a girlfriend." Then he turned back to Reno.  "Been looking for your bitch ass.  Highwind directed us this way, funny how the old shit comes asking us questions."  He regarded Cloud out of the corner of his eye.  

Reno grunted. "Surprised you didn't check here first. Not many casinos left, and my bitch ass has been gambling away all my savings from work." He looked Elena up and down with an amused expression. "And congratulations...I think."

She smacked him lightly and went back to her game of Solitaire.

Rude shifted, a bit uneasily.  "You know Re, you could just come move in with me and Laney."

The redhead gave pause. Normally this would have crossed his mind, but he'd let it slip him up this time. Only half-thinking of Strife -- who would surely be given a house -- he shrugged. "Thanks. I'll think about it; 'soon as Dio kicks me out, I'm sure I'll be looking for cheap rent anyway."

Rude rolled his eyes.  

***

As usually happens, beers loosen up even the toughest rooms.  Rude even warmed up to Cloud, perhaps because Elena told him to.  And at this moment, Reno was being chased around his couch by Elena, for some teasing or another, and the other two were still seated at the table, locked in a vicious arm wrestling match.

Rude grunted in response to Cloud's strength. The big man was unused to having a match last this long.  Then there was a crack.  Both Cloud and Rude looked down at the table.  Then back at each other.  "He's gonna be ticked…"  Cloud commented.

"...Yup," Rude responded. 

One further crack was all the table needed, and it split down the middle. Cloud and Rude moved their other hands to support their arms, continuing as if the table hadn't just collapsed.

Even though Elena and Reno were now yelling at each other in the latter's bedroom about something horribly trivial, the snap of a thirty gil table got Reno out quick, albeit staggering, and he looked at them in shock. "You are so replacing that, Rude."

Rude ignored him, but then there was a knock on the door, loud and very aggressive.

Reno sobered up considerably at the knock. With everyone he knew on a visiting level that would knock that hard in the room already, he knew there was trouble behind that door. Nonetheless, he crossed it and threw it open.

He'd been right.

"What the fuck is going on here?!  Last night you were so loud three different people couldn't get your fucking attention!"  Dio yelled.  His name meant "god" and he was more than happy to think that he really was half the time.

Rude then let go of Cloud, glaring at the blonde man.

Reno decided to answer the first question, thumbing over his shoulder. "Arm-wrestling. Table broke. Sorry, Chief."

Dio looked shocked to see Cloud.  He stormed into the apartment.  "What the fuck are you doing here?!"

The redhead he'd just shoved out of the way got a devilish smirk on his face and softly shut the door, connecting eyes with Rude and mouthing something about payback.

He looked from the blonde man then to Reno.  "Or should I say who were you fucking here?"

At that Rude turned from Reno to look at Cloud, who was feeling a few effects of the alcohol.  The smaller blonde man stalked up to Dio.  "Look, buddy.  Fuck off.  We'll be outta yer hair tomorrow.  If you don't fuck off your going to get your spine so far up your ass you will choke on it."

Dio backed up, feeling his back hit the door.  Suddenly, the big man started to rethink his position.

Reno was tapping his mag-rod against the doorknob, leaning against the wall like nothing was wrong. "What's wrong, Dio? You look flustered."

"Reno, let me out of here, you skinny little twit," Dio hissed

He looked like this was a massive internal debate for him, finally looking at Rude. "Should I, the skinny little twit, let our dear friend leave, Rude?"

Rude stood behind Cloud and Reno, a full foot taller then the other men.  He cocked his head from side to side.  "Laney?  What do you think?"

The blonde slinked around behind Dio, lightly hanging her arms around his neck from behind and resting her head on his shoulder with a little assistance through raising on her toes. "I dunno...we might want him to stick around for a bit..."

Cloud walked around to the window, he pushed it all the way open, looking down to the dumpster.  "Hey, Re?  What goes in this dumpster?"

"Hmm..." Reno actually did have to think about this one; he forgot often. "I'm not quite sure. Any shit that's too dangerous to be towing through the casino...usually my garbage..."

"I know. Dio, you should make sure that dumpster is in working order, I think."  Cloud smirked

Dio threw his elbow towards Elena, who dodged to the side.  The little scuffle ended with Rude jacking Dio's arm behind his back and Reno holding the nightstick at Dio's neck.

"You shouldn't hit girls..."  Rude warned

"Ah! Shit, that fucking -- "  Rude pulled up further. "AUGH!"

"'Specially Turks," Reno added menacingly, finger itching to press the On button.

Cloud moved Reno's furniture, tilting his head to measure the distance.  "Bet you can't make that in one throw, Rude."

Rude laughed.  "Oh, you're on Strife."  The big man pitched Dio, clear across the room and nearly out the window.  The annoying land-lord hung on the widow ledge with one hand.  

Reno couldn't resist, as he trotted over to the ledge and turned his mag-rod down to a mildly irritating shock. He put the tip of the rod against Dio's index finger and pressed the button. "Little piggies don't get shit tonight!" he howled, jacking up the power to the point of Dio's body going into twitching spasms before his considerably-burnt hand let go and he fell the two stories screaming into the dumpster.

Rude smirked.  "I give him a five on the landing."

Reno was looking out at him, and shook his head. "Four. Foot dinged off the edge. You didn't hear that?"

Rude looked over.  Sure enough, the dumpster had a large dent in it.  "Yup.  I owe you a beer when we get to Kalm."

The redhead pulled back in and leaned against the wall, folding his arms in that resigned and defeated stance. "Not going to take no for an answer, then?"

Elena smirked. "Nope."


	5. Chapter Five

**What the Turk Dragged in : Chapter Five**

Reno Spiegel and Drakonlily

At the boat, there had only been two rooms left.  Leaving Rude and Elena to have one to themselves, Cloud and Reno were alone in the other.  Cloud hadn't spoken to Reno, amd the redhead was also eerily quiet.  They would look at each other on occasion, then both look back up at the ceiling of the room.

Eventually, Reno ventured into conversation. "...What're your plans when we hit Kalm?"

"I don't know," Cloud responded.  He sounded like he was going to face a firing squad.

Reno was still wearing his suit, he noticed, and fished around in the inside pocket. Pulling out a dirty pack of smokes whose package proclaimed Seven Star Box -- there was one left; there had been for years -- he tossed it onto the floor and went back to staring at the ceiling. "Gonna find AVALANCHE, you think?"

"Maybe Tifa. I don't think I want to stay around with them.  I just want them to know I'm alive, I guess."  He sighed.  "What are you going to do?"

"Run in the ruts where loyalties lie," he muttered. "Gonna stick around with 'Lena and Rude until I'm back on my feet, maybe cut back on the gambling...hell, I might stay there until I'm old and grey."

"Well, good luck," Cloud responded.

Reno looked like he'd just been insulted. "Good luck?" he repeated.

"Yeah, you said what you were going to do. I wished you luck.  Something wrong with that?"

He didn't even reply to that, unsure what to say. Something just felt wrong with the statement. "Yeah...well...don't get yourself killed."

Cloud looked over to Reno, confused.  "Would it bother you if I did?"

Reno didn't look at him. "It would've bothered me if I'd found your bleeding corpse on the coastline. Just telling you to watch your back; Kalm's a big place, and ShinRa loyalists are still running around."

Cloud made a scoffing sound. "You know why I don't want to stay with them Reno?  Or do you just think I am being high and mighty with the lot of them?"

"To set it straight," he muttered, "I just think you're independent enough to know you can do fine on your own, but you're just unaware enough to die doing some stupid shit."

"I always knew I'd get myself killed."  Cloud laughed.  "Fuck, I don't even know how I made it this far.  Let's face it: I was a shitty hero.  But that's the damn story of my life."

"The story of your life is that you got fucked over by the wrong people, learned from your mistakes, and now you're going to give 'em hell or something. Best of luck to you." With that he rolled over, facing the wall, but didn't even try to sleep.

An hour passed before Cloud sat up, shaking his head.  He looked at the shore; the boat had docked while they were talking.  He picked up the blanket he had on, throwing it over Reno.  He grabbed his sword and headed to the door.  "Hope I catch you around, Reno," he muttered, leaving the redhead behind in the cabin.

Reno was too far gone to hear him.

***

Cloud wandered around  the streets of Kalm. He had pulled his unruly blond hair into a pony tail, and pulled the hood of his shirt up to hide his head.  It was like some surreal dream.  The Gold Saucer had always been removed from reality.  But he truly preferred it to seeing his picture at every corner.  At a bookstore he saw the two best sellers, already before their printing: Cid's Memoirs and The Story of Nanaki.  Cloud closed his eyes.

What about Zax? What about Tseng?  What about Aeris?  No one seemed to mention that whole cities were now gone.  Some fucking hero… Damn, how he hated this.

"The story of your life is that you got fucked over by the wrong people," he had said.  But that wasn't right.  Cloud had been fucked over by the right people.  Tifa and he had never been close, he knew that when she picked him up.  But it was nice, for a while, to pretend he was her hero.  That he meant something to someone.   

Hell, his mother's last words had been, "What are you doing here?"  That was the story of his life.  He hadn't liked any of them, and they hadn't liked him.  They needed him, so he stayed.  He took out Sephiroth, and now the world wanted the heroes to parade through town.  It made Cloud sick.  He didn't stop Sephiroth because he wanted to. There wasn't exactly a line for the job.

It just had to be done.

And then Reno had lied to him.  He had been ready to stay with the guy.  All it would have taken was an "I'm sorry."  But, then again, it was Reno he was thinking about. He looked at a puddle, muttering, "Sephiroth, I fucking wish you would have won." 

A mass of vans and reporters caught his eyes.  They seemed to be staked outside of a house.  Walking around to the back, he realized the place was surrounded.  That had to be where AVALANCHE was.  He would have to get them away from the damn door.  Leaning close to a van -- other gawkers were lazing about, so he didn't seem out of place -- he looked at the door. 

Then his miracle came for him.  A breathless woman leapt into the van Cloud was leaning on, yelling, "I heard Cloud Strife is on a boat docked here at Kalm port!"

And like that, in an instant, Cloud Strife was alone, in favor of the Cloud Strife asleep on the boat.

"Wow, luck for me," Cloud muttered, walking up to the front door of the house and knocking. 

There was a bit of shuffling and what sounded like a barricade being moved, then the door slowly opened, a wine-colored eye peeking through the crack. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Teef?"  Cloud looked over his shoulder before taking the hood down. "It's me."

This was followed by a brief pause, the eye squinting to get a better look at him, then the door sprung open and she gaped at him, not sure if she was seeing a ghost or not. She herself looked rather worn and tired, the bags under her eyes evident, but she still hadn't lost her energy. "Cloud -- you --! ...How?" she whispered.

"Can I come in before those idiots realize I hopped out of the boat?" Cloud urged.  The last thing he wanted was a romantic return of the fucking king story.

"Of course!" she breathed, stepping aside to let him in and shutting the door after him. "You...oh, Cloud..." She couldn't help it, and lunged forward to throw her arms around his neck.

Shocked at first, Cloud let himself hug her. "Hi."

"We all thought you were dead; no one we asked had seen you," she proclaimed, backing up and looking him over. "Want something to drink? You are staying for a while, right?" It was more of a plea than a question.

"No. I'm not."

She froze, actually going to get him something to drink. She turned slowly, surprised. "The night...? At least long enough to talk to everyone, right? We all missed you."

Cloud's face hardened.  "I can't deal with this Tifa.  You and I, I know what happened back when we were kids.  I -- shit, how could you just lie to me?  And then all those people, trying to peg me as a hero?  I thought you at least attempted to know me."

Tifa sat down on the stairs in front of the door slowly, looking more tired than ever as she rubber her temples. "If you'd known the truth...I was afraid you'd leave me; leave us. I tried to know you, I really did. That's why I lied, to make you stay and open up to us, maybe get rid of that defiant shell you've always got on."

Cloud sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.  "Who else would have done it Teef?  If not me?"  He shook his head. "Listen, I will stay the night; I want to explain myself to you.  If you want to hear me out."

She nodded slowly, smiling a worn smile. Despite the stress she was under lately, it was still the woman he'd fought beside for half a year. "If only that, it's good enough."

So he told her.  He told her all those things he didn't want to remember, from when he made it to SOLDIER, like he said he would.  The training.  The fact that he didn't want to continue it, so he was moved to a brigade where they could keep an eye on him.  Then he told her about Hojo. 

Five goddamn years he wished he could forget.  Five years, of nothing save Zax to talk to, when either of them was capable of talking at least.   The escape from Hojo's labs, Zax's death.  Her finding him at the train station. 

Then Cloud skipped ahead, to when he lost the others.  He told her about Sephiroth's death.  How he passed out, to wake up two weeks later, in Reno's apartment.   Lastly, he told her how Reno had said none of them were alive, how he hadn't bothered to check the ex-Turk on his word.  Then he told her what had happened, save the more messy details.  "I came as soon as I found out you were alive," he finished, waiting for a response.

Tifa had been shifting and walking around throughout the entire thing, and was cradling a cup of tea, Cloud with a full mug of coffee in front of him. She took a moment to fully digest the details, then shook her head. "Cloud...we've been looking for you since you disappeared...we've had every police force on the Planet out for you...how could he do that to you?"

Cloud rolled his eyes.  "Maybe because I almost cut him in half.  Hell if I know."  The hero slumped to the table. "But  I do know I need some time to myself, figure out what I want out of life... It's been over six years since I made a choice just for myself, you understand?"

She nodded. She'd been by his side since they'd gone out to fight ShinRa, and it killed her when he told her that he needed to be alone. Her words came slowly. "I understand. I understand more than I want to, I think." She laughed softly and looked up at him. "You're not coming back, are you, Cloud?"

He laughed back.  "I think I will, but I really don't know.  Just don't change your PHS number, alright?  I'll keep in touch."  He stood up and hugged her. "Don't be waiting around for me ok?  And don't tell Cid or Barret about the whole Reno thing.  I still owe him for dragging me as far as he did, so it won't do to have someone try to gut him on sight."

Tifa gave him the old smile and nodded, watching as he started toward the stairs, as the day was getting old. But she knew he'd never voluntarily walk back to her front steps and say hello. He was Cloud Strife, Mr. Independence. He'd been having his choices made for him for so long that he knew it was time to fly solo and make his own.

***

Reno, however, had been making his own choices his entire life, and his most recent one was to live with Elena and Rude, get back to some level of financial stability, and pay them back as well as he could. 

Elena had a child on the way and Rude had picked up a second job to prepare, so most of the time it was just Reno and Laney, who were often mistaken as a couple instead. The redhead got her groceries, ran her errands, even found himself cleaning when she just wasn't in the mood. It was a big change, albeit welcomed.

"Re, I wanted to ask you something." She had a hand over her growing stomach. 

She didn't call him Re unless something was up, so he secured the pipe with the wrench he was holding and hopped off the ladder, wiping his hands on his suit jacket.

He still insisted on wearing it.

The trademark smirk fired up. "Shoot."

"Why don't you have anybody in your life Reno?  I mean, Rude and I love you here, but, you just seem... I don't know, lonely."

That paused him. Reno'd always had a bit of an idea why, but no one had asked him up until now. He folded his arms over his chest. "Elena, you know me. I was married to the job, and now that it's gone...well, what can take the place of being a Turk?"

She sighed.  "Being a human being, maybe?"  She sat on the stairwell slowly, maneuvering with the baby growing inside her.  "You hide behind the excuse that no one understands you… but, you know, you never make it so anyone can know you.  Is Rude the only person you've ever had a serious conversation with your whole life?"

Being human wasn't a thing Reno particularly liked, nor even confessed to half the time. And he'd decided long ago that the people who knew him were the people he'd rather forget existed, and he didn't want that to happen to those he might someday care about. "'Course not. You...Tseng..." He faltered for a moment, silently adding Cloud, and sighed. "Okay, so maybe that's true," he admitted.

"And I was thinking."  She looked at the ground at Reno's feet.  "Se, he told me about the two of you." She shook her head.  "And you seemed like you were actually enjoying Cloud's company...back at your old apartment.  Is it that you are worried that Rude will be angry with you?"

Reno felt this would be the time to have that smoke, the last one in the pack of Seven Star Box cigarettes he'd demanded be given to him from Tseng's body, but he'd decided to be respectful to Elena's "condition." His own eyes shifted to the wall, tracing the cracks. "...Rude doesn't know because any dent in our friendship is one I don't want to have come about. If he finds out and gets angry, well, it's his own decision."

Elena's face went into a mask of anger.  He had to admit, motherhood made her a totally different woman.  "Reno, get off your damn high chocobo.  You're just like the rest of us, for all your not wanting to admit it.  And you know damn well Rude wouldn't be mad at you.  He loves you like family. "  She stood, face quirking and a hand covering her stomach.  "Forget it. You don't want to listen. I don't know why I bothered."

His eyes flickered back to her. "I'm just like everyone else. I admit it. But what does that mean, Elena; what are we, exactly?"

"People," she snapped, turning and going up the stairwell. 

Reno stared at where she had been, then glanced at the pipe, no longer in the mood to work on it. He kicked out and his foot hit the lever on the wall, turning off the water supply for now, and he slowly started toward the stairs.

Being a person meant being human, and Reno wasn't good at that. Once upstairs, Reno wasn't sure what to do with himself. He didn't want to work, and Elena didn't seem too willing to be in his company for the time being. He looked out the nearest window and realized it was raining, something he hadn't gotten to see much of lately. He walked to the door, grabbed his jacket, and trudged outside into the rain, heading for the bar.

Despite the rain, Reno was in a decent mood as he maneuvered his way through homebound crowds, keeping his eyes on the cobblestone path. He didn't want to know it, but it had been a year today.

An entire year since he'd woken up to find Cloud Strife had disappeared.

Looking up at the neon signs in the distance, Reno figured it out.

He just needed a fucking drink.

The redhead, soaked to the bone, was maybe ten feet away from the bar when another person collided with him and they both lost their footing, the two ending up sprawled on the path.  But Reno was up immediately, looking down at the other man, whose hood was up. He snarled at him. "Watch where you're headed, dammit!"

He ended up on his ass, but the other man took his feet the moment Reno regained his own.

 The hood fell down.

The man was a bit taller then Reno, dark brown hair spiked up out of his loose ponytail.  Reno knew him before he spoke.  "God, still a mouthy fuck, aren't you?"

Memories of the mind's eye blanketed what he could physically see, but when he did see clearly, he knew what had just happened.

The what was Cloud Strife.

Reno looked disgusted. "You're hiding behind a false identity? Fucking hypocrite."

"I'm not denying it."  The once blonde man shook out his ponytail.  Longer, his hair still made the attempt to spike out.  Most of it dipped into his eyes before he pulled it back again. Reno could make out the blonde roots, just barely, under the brown. "How about I buy you a drink?" he offered.

Certain other roots he refused to acknowledge. "Buy me a drink?" he barked. "Goddammit, you're still like you always were! You just up and leave, run into me a year later, and think I'm just going to sit at the bar with you? What the hell's the matter with you?"

Cloud smirked. "Well, I'm crazy. I thought you knew that."  Taking a deep breath, Cloud continued on a more somber note, "If you would have asked me to stay, I would have, Reno. But you didn't."

The redhead scoffed. "I never asked you to stay in my apartment, either."

"You haven't changed a bit.  You know that?" Cloud responded.  "Well, maybe an explanation for lying to me would have been nice."  He shrugged.  "But we can't change any of that, so how about that drink?"

Cloud had just shown him they were even, something he couldn't deny. He held his hand out and caught some of the pounding rain, smirking. "You said it yourself, I ain't changed a bit. Do you even need to ask if I want a drink?"

"Well, it's part of whole scenario of getting you drunk and taking advantage of you.  I have to ask.  It's an unwritten law." The other man winked and entered the bar.

Reno followed him in, grinning.

This time, he knew exactly what he was getting into.

-**Fin.**

**Basic Rundown:** This entire fic was done over the course of two weeks through frequent meetings on MSN Messenger. Drakon and Reno have been planning a collaboration since they did a certain scene involving a diner in **Like Father, Like Son**. Drakon tossed a scene idea jokingly around one night, which was referred to as the "Fuck Your Brains Out" scene from there on, Reno took it seriously, and they built around that. And, actually, the title was thrown out as a joke by Chocobo Goddess, but it caught on. So, a magnificent mistake for the authors, this was. Edited and cleaned up with very little effort by Reno, "directed" by Drakon.

**Reno's Note:** My first attempt at a yaoi, so put the shotguns down. Reno/Cloud was a new couple idea for me, but I suppose it worked. We had another ending planned for it, but we decided to let the readers decide how they think it went. Oh, and Seven Star Box is an actual cigarette brand. Drakon was so fucking fun to work with that we've already got five or six chapters of our next fic, untitled, done, all written while I was cleaning this one up. So, this is what, WriDen Project 1b? Or can we just call it accidental fun and leave it at that? Awesome writing with you, Drakon. We still kick ass.

**Drakon's**** Note:** Not my first or my last attempt at the wonderful world of bishness.  But any of you shoot the boy and I will maim you.  Get it? And yeah, while a sadder ending would have been more our particular style, we left it like this.  I love working with Reno, it's an honor to work with anyone as talented as he is.  Our next fic will have a name.. we swear and promise.  And I think we call this the WriDen side works.   And yes Re, we kickith much ass. This I think will be the first of many.


End file.
